Last post at this blog! But, not to despair...

As most of you have seen I have changed the name of the blog recently from "Just thinking..." to Theo-Enthumology. I just found that the name Theo-Enthumology was a more apt name for the blog.

However, the time has come to close this blog!

But, that does not mean that I am ceasing from my blogging activities! You see, the reason I am closing this blog is simply to stop posting at this old blog, which has my name in the URL. I have decided to move my blog to a new URL, that coincides with the name of the blog, Theo-Enthumology!

So, even though this blog is now closed, by exiting from this blog, simply scurry over to the new blog and follow the exit sign below and you will enter the new blog at the new address. Please notice that the feed at the new blog is also new, so please update your feed reader.

Exit here to go to the new Theo-Enthumology!

Between Two Worlds has moved

Between Two Worlds, the blog by Justin Taylor, previously here, has moved. It is now a blog at the Gospel Coalition. If you subscribed to his blog feed before, you will need to subscribe to his new feed.

Happy blogging Justin!

BiblioBlog Top 50 for June has been released!

I really do not know how good the blogs are that make it onto the Top 50 of the BiblioBlog, but I read or have read a few of them. Here they are:
6.  Daniel and Tonya - Hebrew and Greek Reader
24. Andy Naselli - Thoughts on Exegetical, Biblical, Historical, Systematic, and Practical Theology
38. Dave Black - Dave Black Online

My Christian Blogs Site

A new site has been launched to include links to Christian blogs, an aggregator if you will. It is called My Christian Blogs. Here you will find links to major Christian bloggers such as the PyroManiacs, Justin Taylor and Dr. Al Mohler.

You can also have yourself added to this list in the Friends program.

Visit right now and see for yourself.

Reading many blogs using a feed reader

If you are like me, then you are probably keeping an eye on many blogs or sites that provide RSS feeds. Whenever you see the logo on the right, you know you have to do with an RSS feed or site feed. If you click on the logo on the right, your browser will want to subscribe you to this blog's site feed. But, hang on, read to the end!

I use Opera as my main browser, which by the way scored 100/100 on the ACID3 test with its version 10.0 alpha. In the past I used to have a tab open for each blog that I used to read. So, every time I opened Opera, all those tabs had to load first with each blog. This became quite tedious.

I then discovered feed readers. I tried a few client application readers, but I cannot say that I was ever really satisfied. The way a reader works is that it keeps track of what you have read already. Whenever you start up your feed reader, it will check all the feeds you have subscribed to in order to see if the authors of those blogs have posted new blog posts. It will then inform you how many new articles are available for reading.

I eventually discovered the Google Reader. Google Reader is an online reader that you can use wherever you are. You do not have to install it on every computer you use. All you need is a computer connected to the internet and an internet browser.

It has really made my life easier. I no longer have to visit each blog I keep an eye on to see if something new was written.

To make it easier for beginners on the subject, the folks at the Google Reader blog put together a nice post specifically called Google Reader for Beginners. Here they explain how to use Google Reader, also using videos in their explanation.

Of course, feed readers do not only keep track of blogs. It can also keep track of any website that has a site feed. That can include websites such as Facebook, Flickr, Twitter, YouTube and a whole lot of others.

Adrian Warnock moved!

For those that like reading Adrian Warnock's blog probably have already discovered that his blog has a new URL. But, for those that did not know, his new URL is http://adrianwarnock.com/.

Blogger Code of Conduct

It seems that there is something brewing in the blogosphere. It is the idea of a Code of Conduct for bloggers across the 'sphere. We have to admit that the 'sphere is huge, and it is growing at a rapid pace. All kinds of weirdos are jumping onto the blogging bandwagon. Of course, to someone else I may be a weirdo.

HT: Carla.

Tim O'Reilly has come up with a Draft Blogger's Code of Conduct. Naturally, not everybody agrees that there should be such a Code of Conduct.

O'Reilly even came up with a badge that can be put somewhere on your blog if you feel that you want readers to know that you are willing to enforce such a Code on your blog.

One of the dissenters is Dave Taylor over at The Intuitive Life Business Blog. You can read his argument about why he will never sign up to such a code at his post, Why I'll never sign up for any Blogger Code of Conduct.

I left the following comments at his blog. I just thought I'd share it with you too!

---

I think a Code of Conduct is good. In some kind of way I like to see the blogosphere mimic real life. Meaning, in real life there are acceptable and unacceptable ways of speaking to one another. If there was no Code of Conduct, society will unravel into a cess pool of anarchy.

The same thing will happen in the blogosphere. In fact, it is happening in many areas already. For that reason, if you do have either of the two badges on your blog, it will immediately make commenters aware of the type of conduct that is acceptable.

I think it is great to walk into a place and immediately know what type of behaviour is expected. Based on that, I don't have to waste my time there if bad behaviour is acceptable. It is a kind of banner above the entrance that gives a warning of the type of place you are about to enter. I can decide to act even before I enter.

In the same way, I really do not want to waste my time reading a blog where bad behaviour is acceptable. We are all very busy, and it would help cut out wasted time reading unnecessary blogs.

---

O'Reilly even created a badge for those sites where anything goes.

A slip of the tongue!

I was listening to a sermon last year at a prominent charismatic church in the city where I live.

In the sermon the pastor said the following:

"After all, God took a chance on us! Isn't it true? Jesus died for you and me and expressed His love with NO guarantee of a positive response from us. He didn't know what we would do! And many, many people reject His love. [He] still loved them."

Because I respect the pastor in this case, I wrote a letter to him querying him on the statement, "He didn't know what we would do!" In his reply to my letter, he said:

"Thank you for raising your concern with me. I am positive that it must have been a slip of the tongue – I would like to affirm that I definitely believe in God’s foreknowledge. I share your concern to uphold the truth and endeavour to do so at all times."

This got me thinking about the so-called "slip of the tongue."

Preachers should take utmost care not to say things that they do not mean. A "slip of the tongue" could have dire consequences!

Basically, a "slip of the tongue," such as this, can be caused by many things, I guess. However, I want to look at three possible causes:

1. Lack of Theological Depth
"Slips" such as these most often happen to those who do not have the proper theological grounding or understanding. I agree that "slips" occur more frequently than we would like to admit. Yet, "slips" more frequently occur with subjects that we are not very proficient at.

Once we have mastered a subject, it becomes that much more difficult to experience lapses of thought regarding those subjects. On the other hand, these lapses may point to the fact that one hasn't reached a thorough understanding of the subject at hand.

Preachers should hardly ever experience such lapses, since they are supposed to be thoroughly grounded in the Word of God and they should have a strong understanding of theological constructs in the Bible! The problem with many charismatic preachers today is that they hardly ever have a solid theological foundation!

Quoting a couple of verses merely means that one has a good memory. Having a solid theological understanding of those verses; now that is what should be aimed at! Many of these preachamatics (charismatic preachers) are very good at quoting verses while preaching. Yet, very few of them actually have a Biblical understanding of the verses they quote.

I remember, way back in the mid-80s, when I was still into the Word-of-Faith heresy, I attended a conference at which Kenneth Copeland was speaking. One of the verses in his sermon was Amos 4:6, "'I gave you cleanness of teeth in all your cities, and lack of bread in all your places, yet you did not return to me,' declares the LORD." Copeland used this verse to preach about how God would bless us if only we believed. We would be so blessed that we would even have clean teeth! Funny, this verse does not say that at all. In fact, God was chastising the Isrealites at the time by keeping food from them, and as a result their teeth were clean from not having anything to eat!

But, I digress!

One of the big problems among preachamatics, is that they are not interested in reading and studying theology. As a result, they continue with their own brand of suspect theology.

Of course, a good place to start reading good theology, is with the prince of theologians himself, John Calvin. His Institutes of the Christian Religion is available free online. He has also written many commentaries which can also be found free online.

The problem with such a lack of theological depth, which cannot be denied, especially at this church where I heard this sermon, is that they sell the books and teaching videos/tapes of known heretics. They sell stuff by men such as T.D. Jakes (more on Jakes here) and Tommy Tenney who do not teach the Trinitarian God of the Bible! They further sell goods by many Word-of-Faith teachers such as Kenneth Copeland, Kenneth Hagin, Joyce Meyers, Fred Price, Charles Capps and Benny Hinn.

2. Topical Preaching
Another problem that can lead to a "slip of the tongue" is this incessant need in the modern church for topical preaching. I am not saying that topical preaching is bad all the time. The problem I have with churches where they only hear topical preaching is that they hardly ever get the whole counsel of God. Most topical preachers jump from verse to verse and as a result never show their people how the Scriptures fit together!

Another issue with topical preaching is that preachers using this method of preaching almost invariably think that they know the topic at hand well enough to preach off the cuff! Can you see the problem? This is exactly where the "slip of the tongue" comes in!

The best solution for this is to start preaching expository sermons (preaching through a book of the Bible). Not that expository preaching is the be-all and end-all! This can be messed up too! Yet, this method of preaching demands more from the preacher. More study and more concentration! The preacher will then have to do proper hermeneutics on the book he is preaching through in order to teach the passage in question accurately.

But, I guess, that will be too much work for our preachamatics!

3. Insufficient Sermon Notes
Finally, as has been suggested before, most of these preachamatics are topical sermon preachers. Since, as has also been suggested under point 2, these preachers are mostly into topical sermons, they have this over-confident attitude that they know the topic at hand very well, and as a result they have very short, to no sermon notes that they preach from.

It makes me wonder how they can preach the whole counsel of God at all!

They claim to flow with the Spirit! If they claim to be flowing with the Spirit, why do they have these "slips of the tongue?" Or, perhaps the Spirit has given them new revelation that should be added to the Bible? But, this is not what they claim! At least not the new revelation part!

The problem with many of these preachamatics is that they do claim to be led by the Spirit and so they have become so arrogant, and they treat the content of the very Word of God so flippantly, that they do not bother with preaching the whole counsel of God at all.

They would rather claim to be led by the Spirit and preach all kinds of nonsense (a "slip of the tongue"), than honour God by preaching His Word and only His Word.

If they really honoured God in their preaching, they would do everything in their power to ensure that they preach only the Word of God. That would mean spending hours before God in prayer and sermon preparation, studying the Word of God to ensure that the passage at hand is interpreted correctly. However, I guess hermeneutics is a lost art among the preachamatics! Further, proper notes will be taken to the pulpit to ensure that such a "slip of the tongue" does not occur.

In conclusion, many of these charismatic churches that claim to be led by the Spirit of God allow the merchandise of heretics (such as those mentioned under point 1) to be sold in their bookstores. Why is the Spirit not telling them to get rid of the wolves in sheep's clothing from their midst? Is it perhaps, as I maintain, that they are not so-called led by the Spirit as much as they claim to be?

On this topic, of divining the leading of the Lord, it may be good to go over to the PyroManiacs to read the post by Dan Phillips called "Misreading God." Perhaps the preachamatics will say that Dan Phillips is wrong, because the spirit told them so!

The Gospel: Diluted and non-Saving

di·lute

1. to make (a liquid) thinner or weaker by the addition of water or the like.
2. to make fainter, as a color.
3. to reduce the strength, force, or efficiency of by admixture. –verb (used without object)
4. to become diluted. –adjective
5. reduced in strength, as a chemical by admixture; weak: a dilute solution.
   

This is what the western, modern church is doing to the gospel. It is making the gospel weaker, fainter, inefficient and easy!

I was reading a post by the Calvinist Gadfly and thought to myself: "That is exactly what I want to say!"

The gospel that is preached today in many churches is more about self-help programs than the Biblical gospel itself! What can be heard in churches today are sermons like: "5 Steps to a happy marriage," "8 Steps to becoming a prayer warrior," "How to become a successful leader," "How to raise good children" and many more...

In my post, Reformation Needed Today, I wrote the following:

"The world around us is falling apart and still, many pastors want so much for people to like them in order to draw the crowds. In order for people to like them, these pastors must as a consequence get rid of all the offensive material in the gospel, and end up drawing the crowds with nothing but the elements of the world itself. In the end, what are these people getting saved towards? Definitely not the gospel and Jesus Christ! These preachers simply attract people to 'all that is in the world--the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride in possessions,' which 'is not from the Father but is from the world' (1 Jn 2:16 ESV)."

Gadfly wrote it much more succinct than I did: "What you win them with is what you win them to."

The point is, if you preach a diluted, weak gospel, devoid of the truth of the Biblical gospel, then your converts will be diluted, weak, devoid of the truth.

The fact that preachers think they could preach a watered down gospel in order to get people, show 3 things at least:

1. The preacher does not believe in the God of the Bible.
   
2. The preacher is concerned with the numbers of the church more than with the real salvation of the people in the church.
3. The preacher is concerned with the size of his salary.

Imagine the gospel Jesus preached! How horrific His gospel is according to the experts of today! With all the psycho-analytical-babble today, it is recommended that we stroke people's egos and not to condemn them. We are supposed to soften them up until they are ready to accept what we say!

Now great crowds accompanied him, and he turned and said to them, [26] "If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple. [27] Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple. (Luk 14:25-27)

Perhaps Jesus did not know of the psychological advances made since Freud and Jung?! Or, maybe, just maybe, He gave us an example of how to preach the gospel! Yet, when many modern preachers deliver their sermons, they appeal to what Gadfly calls "creaturely-centeredness." It is this self-centered gospel that leads its adherents to believe that they could manipulate God like some pagan god with the correct mantras and rituals. This gospel contains no sense of self-denial!

What these preachers do is to give good advice toward self-help and self-esteem programs. However, it leads to deception and in the end, I am sad to say, no-one is saved! If people are won over by self-help and self-esteem programs, that would be what their salvation turns out to be. This is not the salvation promised by Jesus!

The modern church has made the gospel all about us. It is for that reason that many people see their own testimonies as the gospel itself. They have forgotten that the gospel is about the One that made salvation available. It is for this very reason that when preachers dilute the gospel that they once again show their unbelief in the very One that provided the gospel!

Maybe next time we think about the power of the gospel we should rather think about the power to take up our cross than think about some self-centered reason why we should have more in this life to make us feel better!

Top 10 Irish Calvinist posts

The Irish Calvinist lists his 10 most visited blog posts of 2006.

His post is called "Top Blog Posts of 2006."

HT: Justin Taylor

Best Bible Software (IMHO)

I see that some of our Christian blog writers recommend Bible Study Software such as Logos Bible Software.

When I look at the pricing of this software it simply takes my breath away! I wonder what Luther, Calvin and the Puritans did without this software?! Poor guys had to do it the hard way!

I looked at the price for the Gold Edition in my own currency (R11 399.00/$1379.95) and I almost fell off my chair! This is exactly the edition that I would like to have myself, but at that price I'd rather do a root-canal at the dentist! The Gold Edition has almost everything that any serious Bible scholar could need. Yet, this is a price that is totally out of my league without some kind of sponsorship.

However, there is light at the end of this pricing darkness!

e-Sword is free, and it is good. It includes many different free versions of the English translation, such as the ESV, ASV, CEV, Message, KJV and several more. It further includes the Majority Greek NT, Scrivener Textus Receptus, Westcott-Hort, Hebrew OT, Septuagint, Vulgate and also many foreign language translations.

Further, some of these texts are coded with Strong's numbering system.

There are also many Commentaries available. There are commentaries like Clarke's Commentary, Barnes, John Gill, Jamieson, Fausset and Brown, Matthew Henry, Robertson's Word Pictures, etc.

e-Sword also includes Dictionaries, such as Brown-Driver-Briggs' Hebrew Definitions, Easton's, ISBE, Nave's, Strong's Bible Dictionary, Thayer's Greek Definitions, etc.

There are also some Graphics available. It includes the American Bible Society Maps, Classic Bible Maps, Ancient Mediterranean Maps and even NASA Satellite Images.

Then there are the Extras. This would include the Ante-Nicene Fathers, All of Grace by Spurgeon, Antiquities of the Jews by Josephus, Concerning Christian Liberty by Martin Luther, Creeds of Christendom and History of The Christian Church by Schaff and many more.

There are also some Devotions included and finally some STEP Libraries such as collections by A.W. Pink, J.C. Ryle and John Bunyan.

In my opinion, e-Sword is one of the best Bible Study Software products to be found. If the price of e-Sword is considered, then I would say it is the best deal you can find on any Bible Study Software! The reason for saying this, is that it is FREE software! Yes, you read correctly! It is free.

I have been using e-Sword now for many years. Probably from about early 2001, and I have been more than happy with this software.

It is easy to use and easy to configure. Starting with e-Sword is simple, even for someone that is not very computer literate. It is also advanced enough to satisfy a regular computer user.

In my opinion, you cannot go wrong when using this software!

Some Objections to the Biblical Doctrine of Election

There are many objections to the Biblical doctrine of election.

Some of them are handled here.

Just thinking ...

Reformed Rapper

HT: Justin Taylor

Curtis Allen raps "Unstoppable" at Bethlehem Baptist Church.



Just thinking...

Pyromaniacs a bunch of mean-spiritied bullies?

Oh, get over yourselves! The dissenters to Pyromaniacs, I mean!

I have been reading Pyromaniacs since the inception of the original blog of the original Pyromaniac, Phil Johnson. And in my opinion, which counts more than anyone else's if you use post-modern logic, these guys are not mean-spirited at all. If you want to know anything about being mean-spirited and just being nasty, you should read the writings of guys like Jack Chick and the KJV-Only clan!

Phil Johnson, wrote a post called Bully Pulpit in which he brings these complaints to light.

Are the Pyromaniacs innocent? Is any of us innocent? The point is that many Christians today have this odd idea that Christians should not disagree. What kind of weird Orwellian foolishness is this that we may not disagree with others. Iron sharpens iron! The fact is that within Christendom there are many different views, and not all of them can be right.

The problem arises when someone else thinks that you are wrong. In this case, these complainants think that the Pyromaniacs are wrong. Wrong in their doctrine, that is. The problem, and I am not sure that it is a real problem for the Pyromaniacs, is that they are very sure of themselves and when they write anything that "sureness" comes across. What I have noticed is that many of the post-modern kind, such as the emergent species simply do not like it when people are sure of what they believe and then are willing to stand for that belief!


To the unsure type, ala emergent type, this is akin to being mean-spirited. "How can you say I am wrong? Boo-hoo!" The problem with being sure of being unsure is that there is nothing to stand on and so the foundations are real shaky! When the foundations are shaky, the easiest thing to do is to start pointing the finger to someone else in order to prevent fingers from pointing to us! Of course, then the name-calling starts.

In all the time that I have read Pyromaniacs, and the initial blog started by Phil, I have never found them to be rude or mean-spirited. Perhaps a bit too sarcastic at times, but then they made it clear that it was not to be rude, but to use the literary device of sarcasm to make a point!

I wonder what these complainants would say if they ever dare read the writings of the great men of faith like Athanasius, Augustine and Luther who had to battle serious error and heresy in their day. When it comes to the truth of the gospel, there simply is no time to waste on beating around the bush! Get to the truth and get to it quickly! According to what I have read at Pyromaniacs I can with certainty say (Oh yes, I cannot be sure about that!) that these guys have gone about it with a good attitude. They have used serious tones and comical tones, yet they have made their point!

All the complainants can see is rudeness because they simply "can't handle the truth!"

What amazes me is that many of these guys and gals that complain so much fall headlong into the very same thing they complain about! They complain to others about being rude, yet they are rude while doing so. Others would complain vehemently about the mean-spiritedness of the Pyromaniacs but then do so in a very mean-spirited way!

The Pyromaniacs have something to say! Deal with it! Face their arguments concerning Scripture and other things and then be like the Bereans and search the Scriptures to see if these things are so.

In my opinion, the Pyromaniacs must keep on burning for the Lord!

Just thinking...

Which Reformed Blog Are You?

Our brother Adrian Warnock created a quiz (see update at the bottom) in order for a Reformed blogger to discover what type of Reformed Blogger he is.

My top result for the SelectSmart.com selector, Which Reformed Blog Are You?, is Miscellanies on the Gospel

Of the different blogs in the comparison, this is how my blogging is ranked among them.

RANK ITEM
#1 Miscellanies on the Gospel
#2 Worship Matters
#3 ESV Bible Blog
#4 The Blue Fish
#5 Al Mohler
#6 Together For the Gospel
#7 Adrian Warnock
#8 Girl Talk
#9 Between Two Worlds
#10 Tim Challies
#11 Frame-Poythress Blog
#12 Reformation Theology
#13 Jolly Blogger
#14 The Pyromaniacs

I don't know how Warnie came up with his criteria for grading blogs in his system, but I suppose it makes for a bit of fun.

On the other hand, the first blog I visit everyday is The Pyromaniacs, rated at the bottom of what my style is rated as.

I have never heard of Miscellanies of the Gospel until today. I guess I am going to have to read it to see why I was rated to be this type of Reformed blogger!

Which Reformed Blog Are You?

Just thinking...

Update - 10 October 2006: Our friend Warnie, from the Queen's country, informed me that he didn't write the quiz. Sorry, Adrian! I suppose I jumped to conclusions there. Well, at least I got some exercise from the jumping I did. Another blogger, Dave, from the bluefish project informed me that it was Paul Huxley - Rock Badger who created the quiz. Thanks, Dave!

Hearing God's voice?

I have been thinking about the subject of hearing God's voice.

Since the day that I came to believe in Jesus Christ as my wonderful Saviour, I have been taught the line of waiting on the Lord for direction to my life and that of my family.

Around 1998 God brought me to a full understanding of the doctrines of grace, also known popularly as Calvinism or even TULIP (Total Depravity, Unconditional Election, Limited Atonement, Irresistible Grace, Perseverance of the Saints). So, as a charismatic who used to be in all kinds of errors like Word-of-Faith (WOF) and also holding to the idea that God spoke to us everyday outside of the Bible and that we should be waiting on God to speak to us, I now held to doctrines traditionally opposed to what charismanianism holds to.

However, for some time now I have seen myself as a Reformed Charismatic, although I have had a big problem with the word "charismatic" since that word today has more baggage to it than what it had, say, 40 years ago. Today, it has added to it all kinds of heresy such as the WOF heresy (Kenneth Copeland, etc) and other heretics such as T.D. Jakes and more.

Nevertheless, I have been wondering about the whole issue of hearing God's voice. I was not of the kind that believed that hearing God's voice today added anything to the Scriptures, but that anything contrary to the Bible was obviously not God!

So, for a long time now I have been thinking to myself that I do not know of anywhere in the Bible where it commands us to actively wait on the Holy Spirit to hear from Him. I can't even think of examples where it was a common occurrence!

If there is someone that believes that we have such clear commands or that we have ample examples of this in the Bible I would like to see it!

The point is, in the charismatic/pentecostal circles a lot is made of hearing God's voice and obeying Him. Those who apparently do not hear from God as regularly as the super-spiritual ones, are vilified and made to feel that they could NOT possibly be in God's perfect will!

Sure, I do not deny that God could speak to us today. What I do deny is that God sits at His throne like a little puppy waiting for us to come home so He could spend time with us. God's providence is way bigger than that! Do people really believe that God is unable to accomplish His work without them? God can make the rocks on the ground praise Him if we don't!

The way I see it, and help me if I am wrong here, is that God speaks when He wants to. Right through the Bible, people were going about their daily (or nightly) business when God sovereignly stepped into their lives and spoke to them! It was God who stepped into the life of Abraham (before He was a "Hebrew"), Moses at the burning bush, Samuel while sleeping and Paul while riding in the desert. Later, Paul was on his missionary journeys when God spoke in a vision to Paul telling him to go to Macedonia. Paul was seemingly on his way in one direction and then God called him in another! If we are to constantly wait on God for His direction, why was it necessary for God to interrupt Paul's dreams to call him to Macedonia if it was not for the reason that it was not part of everyday Christianity to want to know God's will for the next step? Maybe Paul was just not spiritual enough yet!

On the other hand, should we not just let God guide us in His sovereign providence?

Just thinking ...

Excellent bumper sticker!

Matt Gumm has an excellent bumper sticker at his blog as follows:

 

God is my Potter, not Harry.
See ISAIAH 64:8

 

Just thinking...

 

A new blog

For some time now, some of you would have realized, I have also written some blog entries on politics.

Well, I have decided to rather start another blog particularly geared towards politics in South Africa.

Image courtesy of IRPA2016

I am also using a South African blog provider.


I have called the new blog BiblioPolit. To find out about this new blog you can read the very first post here. UPDATE: I have since started a blog here, that replaces the BiblioPolit blog at MWeb.

I did this in order to concentrate more on theological/doctrinal and Biblical commentary on this blog. So, this blog is not coming to an end, but rather it is refocusing to its original intention.

Of course, if you want to see what is going on this side of the Atlantic at the bottom of Africa, please visit the new blog!

Just thinking...

Warnie's 2000th blog post!

Adrian Warnock has written his 2000th post on his blog. In this post Warnie thanks The Doctor (Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones) for the great influence The Doctor had on him.

Just thinking...

Rhema vs. Logos

It happens every now and again. Well, it happened yesterday again!

Somewhere, sometime, someone came up with the idea that the Greek word 'rhema' has a totally different meaning to that of 'logos.' I do not know who started this mythological hoax, but once again the church fell for the hoax!

Yesterday, one of the pastor's at church preached a sermon that included Mt 4:4, "But he answered, 'It is written, "Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God."'" The Greek word for 'word' here is rhema. The claim is that rhema does not refer to the Bible like logos does, but to a fresh word from the mouth of God.

What follows is a little study on the uses of 'rhema' and 'logos.'

It is a little long, but I hope it is worth the reading.